TEENAGE friends George Heaton-Renshaw and Henry Dodson are to take part in the gruelling Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race to raise money for charity.

George, 17, of Devizes, and Henry, 16, of Chittoe, are raising money for different charities.

George, a pupil at Marlborough College, is raising money for Future Hope which was set up by former rugby player Tim Grandage.

The charity is based in Calcutta and helps orphaned children. Tim, a former Harlequin player, has taught the children rugby and as a result some of them have won rugby scholarships to schools in England.

George said: "I felt inspired to help Future Hope when I read about it in the Daily Telegraph. I like playing rugby and because of Tim's background that interested me as well."

Henry is raising money for the World Federation of Haemophilia so it can set up a treatment centre in Nairobi, Kenya, to help people who are suffering from the blood clotting disorder.

Henry is a haemophiliac and under goes treatment at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

The friends have been training on the Kennet and Avon Canal in preparation for the 125-mile race, dubbed the canoeist's Everest, that takes place over the Easter weekend.

George, whose father is local GP John Heaton-Renshaw, has never canoed before while Henry is a keen rower.

George said: "We have fallen into the water a few times while we get used to canoeing together."

Anyone wishing to sponsor the boys should write to Jill Crooks at the Gazette, 14 Market Place, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 1HT.